Beautiful Powder Room Vanity with floating walnut cabinets. Builder - Build Inc, Interior Design - Tate Studio Architects, Photography - Thompson Photographic.

Example of a small transitional multicolored floor powder room design in Phoenix with a two-piece toilet, gray walls, a console sink, gray countertops, furniture-like cabinets and marble countertops

Custom bar built for the homeowner, with butcher block countertops, custom made cabinets with built-in beverage fridge, & 8 lighted floating shelves. The cabinets color is Behr cracked pepper and the brick is Mcnear Greenich.

The shower in the Master Bathroom. Photographer: Rob Karosis
Example of a large cottage master white tile and subway tile slate floor and black floor bathroom design in New York with white walls and a hinged shower door

Dedicated laundry room - small transitional single-wall dedicated laundry room idea in Boston

Painted to room a nice dark blue gray to give the room a soft and cozy feel. Added light linens and an area rug to make it pop off that dark color.

TEAM: Architect: LDa Architecture & Interiors Builder (Kitchen/ Mudroom Addition): Shanks Engineering & Construction Builder (Master Suite Addition): Hampden Design Photographer: Greg Premru

Designer Sarah Robertson of Studio Dearborn helped a neighbor and friend to update a “builder grade” kitchen into a personal, family space that feels luxurious and inviting. The homeowner wanted to solve a number of storage and flow problems in the kitchen, including a wasted area dedicated to a desk, too-little pantry storage, and her wish for a kitchen bar. The all white builder kitchen lacked character, and the client wanted to inject color, texture and personality into the kitchen while keeping it classic.

We were contacted by a family named Pesek who lived near Memorial Drive on the West side of Houston. They lived in a stately home built in the late 1950’s. Many years back, they had contracted a local pool company to install an old lagoon-style pool, which they had since grown tired of. When they initially called us, they wanted to know if we could build them an outdoor room at the far end of the swimming pool. We scheduled a free consultation at a time convenient to them, and we drove out to their residence to take a look at the property. After a quick survey of the back yard, rear of the home, and the swimming pool, we determined that building an outdoor room as an addition to their existing landscaping design would not bring them the results they expected. The pool was visibly dated with an early “70’s” look, which not only clashed with the late 50’s style of home architecture, but guaranteed an even greater clash with any modern-style outdoor room we constructed. Luckily for the Peseks, we offered an even better landscaping plan than the one they had hoped for. We proposed the construction of a new outdoor room and an entirely new swimming pool. Both of these new structures would be built around the classical geometry of proportional right angles. This would allow a very modern design to compliment an older home, because basic geometric patterns are universal in many architectural designs used throughout history. In this case, both the swimming pool and the outdoor rooms were designed as interrelated quadrilateral forms with proportional right angles that created the illusion of lengthened distance and a sense of Classical elegance. This proved a perfect complement to a house that had originally been built as a symbolic emblem of a simpler, more rugged and absolute era. Though reminiscent of classical design and complimentary to the conservative design of the home, the interior of the outdoor room was ultra-modern in its array of comfort and convenience. The Peseks felt this would be a great place to hold birthday parties for their child. With this new outdoor room, the Peseks could take the party outside at any time of day or night, and at any time of year. We also built the structure to be fully functional as an outdoor kitchen as well as an outdoor entertainment area. There was a smoker, a refrigerator, an ice maker, and a water heater—all intended to eliminate any need to return to the house once the party began. Seating and entertainment systems were also added to provide state of the art fun for adults and children alike. We installed a flat-screen plasma TV, and we wired it for cable. The swimming pool was built between the outdoor room and the rear entrance to the house. We got rid of the old lagoon-pool design which geometrically clashed with the right angles of the house and outdoor room. We then had a completely new pool built, in the shape of a rectangle, with a rather innovative coping design. We showcased the pool with a coping that rose perpendicular to the ground out of the stone patio surface. This reinforced our blend of contemporary look with classical right angles. We saved the client an enormous amount of money on travertine by setting the coping so that it does not overhang with the tile. Because the ground between the house and the outdoor room gradually dropped in grade, we used the natural slope of the ground to create another perpendicular right angle at the end of the pool. Here, we installed a waterfall which spilled over into a heated spa. Although the spa was fed from within itself, it was built to look as though water was coming from within the pool. The ultimate result of all of this is a new sense of visual “ebb and flow,” so to speak. When Mr. Pesek sits in his couch facing his house, the earth appears to rise up first into an illuminated pool which leads the way up the steps to his home. When he sits in his spa facing the other direction, the earth rises up like a doorway to his outdoor room, where he can comfortably relax in the water while he watches TV. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

Library cabinetry that switches to a hidden murphy bed feature
Example of a trendy bedroom design in New York

Sunroom with casement windows and different shades of grey furniture.
Inspiration for a large farmhouse gray floor and dark wood floor sunroom remodel in New York with a standard ceiling

Tricia Shay
Example of a mid-sized beach style guest medium tone wood floor and gray floor bedroom design in Cleveland with no fireplace and gray walls

Example of a cottage dark wood floor and brown floor living room design in New York with white walls, a standard fireplace and a brick fireplace

Transitional laundry room with a mudroom included in it. The stackable washer and dryer allowed for there to be a large closet for cleaning supplies with an outlet in it for the electric broom. The clean white counters allow the tile and cabinet color to stand out and be the showpiece in the room!

This open floor kitchen has a mixture of Concrete Counter tops as well as Marble. The range hood is made of a custom plaster. The T&G ceiling with accents of Steel make this room cozy and elegant. The floors were 8 inch planks imported from Europe.

bedside pendant lights, diagonal shiplap, drum pendant, hanging lanterns, modern farmhouse, shiplap accent wall, shiplap bed wall, v groove ceiling, white oak floors

Outdoor Kitchen and Living Space
This is an example of a mid-century modern backyard landscaping in New Orleans.

Tony Soluri
Example of a large trendy master carpeted and gray floor bedroom design in Chicago with white walls and a two-sided fireplace

Photos by Julie Soefer
Inspiration for a transitional gender-neutral gray floor dressing room remodel in Houston with shaker cabinets and white cabinets